Roskam Automatic Machinery

By Erik Cagle The workflow process of a commercial printer is a lot like a 4x400 relay team in track and field: all the components of the team must be equally strong in order to be successful, and the final step is as important, even more so, than any other. After all, you don't want the anchor leg dropping the baton. The world of stackers and palletizers is the equivalent of the anchor leg, as it prepares finished product for delivery. Thus while not as ballyhooed as the sexier prepress parts of printing operations, its customers demand the ultimate in reliability, durability and

BY CHRIS BAUER In an industry where time is money, web offset printers want the fastest, easiest-to-use equipment they can find. When looking for palletizing and stacking machines, they won't accept second-rate gear. "Our customers expect reliable, durable and easy-to-maintain machines with simple and intuitive makeready adjustments," asserts Terry Bradford, product manager for Heidelberg, which represents Rima-System in North America. "The huge volume of paper produced by today's high-speed presses makes robotic palletizing much more cost-effective, and the consistently high quality of robotically palletized loads translates to more efficient operation of bindery equipment further downstream." Similarly, according to Lee Terry, sales manager for Roskam Automatic Machinery, the emergence of high-speed